ACTFL Board Approved Position Statement - Updated 2010 "ACTFL therefore recommends that language educators and their students use the target language as exclusively as possible (90% plus) at all levels of instruction during instructional time and, when feasible, beyond the classroom."
Strategies for Keeping Class in the Target Language Helena Curtain's website and ideas:
-ask students to direct responses to a partner (ex. Say "hello" to your partner and ask how he/she is doing; tell your partner to open to page X; describe the weather/time; etc.)
-teacher provides prompt, students address each other rather than teacher - this adds a social dimension
-WL teachers should not talk about the target language - they should talk THROUGH it
-using English to teach students a language is like learning to swim without water
-use pictures to show meaning rather than translating from target language to English
-language is the key to culture and the teacher is the culture bearer ("The limits of my language are the limits of my world." - Wittgenstein).
-When should English be used? When it is intentional, for a purpose, or a conscious decision / for a lesson segment
-First, ask: Can I simplify or use pictures, materials or props? / Can I substitute a different concept? / Can I delay the topic?
-Strategies: (1) use comprehensible input (2) use gestures/visuals (3) employ comprehension checks (4) negotiate meaning (5) elicit talk and risk-taking (6) conversational management (7) use of rubrics (8) keep track of your use of TL (9) use a reinforcement system (marbles in a jar, etc.) (10) maintain a physical classroom (11) contextualize lessons (12) avoid lecturing all the time (13) paraphrase and give opposites (14) use TPR (15) employ circle questioning
-"Not paying attention to the needs of the learner is like leaving for the airport without the passenger...so that you’ll get there on time." - Madeline Hunter
Lesson Planning for 21st Century Students *for more info about this 2010 ACTFL presentation go to Resources from Greg -backward design lesson plan template:
-Why do students choose to take a language course? The majority answered that they wanted to be able to speak another language. -Why do so many students drop their language study? Students find that their goals and the goals their teacher has for them are not the same / they are not learning to speak. -Lesson Planning: 3 stages Stage 1: Ask what the students will be able to DO and what they will KNOW by the end of the lesson. Tell students goals in student-friendly language. Gear goals around real life targets and applicability. Stage 2: Ask how teacher will know that the students can DO to the learning target by the end of the lesson. This can be a concluding activity. Stage 3: Determine what instructional activities will be used. Ask the following: (1) is the learner an active participant (2) do they engage all learners (3) do they give students a reasons to invest (4) are there authentic reasons for activities (5) do they vary in intensity and mode (6) do they make the best use of time -where we place our activities matters - the brain needs and will take down time! See chart below: -to maximize learning, create learning episodes -many teachers check HW and do other housekeeping tasks for the first 10 minutes of class - this is prime learning time according to brain research!
ACTFL Teachers of the Year Ideas and Strategies *For more information visit website created by three former ACTFL Teachers of the Year. -keep TL in classroom with extemporaneous speaking activity: Put students in small groups; create speaking prompts (PowerPoint - show one at a time); assign numbers to each student in group (ex. 1-4); set time to 30-60 seconds; show prompt and call out student number; in each group one student will discuss prompt for allotted time; ring bell, call time and change topic (prompt ideas: If I were an animal I would be...; My favorite singer...; Here is an ad for some new shampoo; If my pet could speak, this is what he would say...; OR show pictures and selected student must describe image).
Go to Madame Fifi's website for conversation starters, etc.
-for easy student pairing use partner clocks - clock face divided into 12 pie slices for each hour - students fill clock partners with someone new for each time slot, they ask "Can I have an appointment for 2 o'clock (in TL of course!) -create laminated, numbered tickets for easy group arrangements - have 4 of each number - hand out and have all 2 get together, etc. -use laminated color cards for making groups
-various online tools that can be utilized include: Wallwisher: click here for ideas on using Wallwisher in the classroom Xtranormal: text-to-movie Animoto: save as ppt or jpg format Storybird: create class stories with fabulous illustrations
Techniques to get Students Speaking without Translating presented by Joshua Cabral of Brookwood HS, MA *for printouts of all his handouts and to use as props in the classroom see his blog and look for workshop materials *a second blog can be found here -teach students about circumlocution -have students stand back-to-back in pairs - show an image that only one sees and describes to the other - they must talk around objects that they do not know the words for -create "image sentences" using images found on blogs above / color code parts of speech
University of Texas at Austin Teaching Methods *This website contains valuable instructional videos for WL teachers! -Various aspects of language teaching are addressed including:speaking, writing, listening, reading, vocabulary, grammar, pragmatics, culture, the language learner, classroom management, technology and assessment// Power point presentation for department meeting 12/15/10:
"ACTFL therefore recommends that language educators and their students use the target language as exclusively as possible (90% plus) at all levels of instruction during instructional time and, when feasible, beyond the classroom."
Strategies for Keeping Class in the Target Language
Helena Curtain's website and ideas:
-ask students to direct responses to a partner (ex. Say "hello" to your partner and ask how he/she is doing; tell your partner to open to page X; describe the weather/time; etc.)
-teacher provides prompt, students address each other rather than teacher - this adds a social dimension
-WL teachers should not talk about the target language - they should talk THROUGH it
-using English to teach students a language is like learning to swim without water
-use pictures to show meaning rather than translating from target language to English
-language is the key to culture and the teacher is the culture bearer ("The limits of my language are the limits of my world." - Wittgenstein).
-When should English be used? When it is intentional, for a purpose, or a conscious decision / for a lesson segment
-First, ask: Can I simplify or use pictures, materials or props? / Can I substitute a different concept? / Can I delay the topic?
-Strategies: (1) use comprehensible input (2) use gestures/visuals (3) employ comprehension checks (4) negotiate meaning (5) elicit talk and risk-taking (6) conversational management (7) use of rubrics (8) keep track of your use of TL (9) use a reinforcement system (marbles in a jar, etc.) (10) maintain a physical classroom (11) contextualize lessons (12) avoid lecturing all the time (13) paraphrase and give opposites (14) use TPR (15) employ circle questioning
-"Not paying attention to the needs of the learner is like leaving for the airport without the passenger...so that you’ll get there on time." - Madeline Hunter
Lesson Planning for 21st Century Students
*for more info about this 2010 ACTFL presentation go to Resources from Greg
-backward design lesson plan template:
-Why do students choose to take a language course? The majority answered that they wanted to be able to speak another language.
-Why do so many students drop their language study? Students find that their goals and the goals their teacher has for them are not the same / they are not learning to speak.
-Lesson Planning: 3 stages
Stage 1: Ask what the students will be able to DO and what they will KNOW by the end of the lesson. Tell students goals in student-friendly language. Gear goals around real life targets and applicability.
Stage 2: Ask how teacher will know that the students can DO to the learning target by the end of the lesson. This can be a concluding activity.
Stage 3: Determine what instructional activities will be used. Ask the following: (1) is the learner an active participant (2) do they engage all learners (3) do they give students a reasons to invest (4) are there authentic reasons for activities (5) do they vary in intensity and mode (6) do they make the best use of time
-where we place our activities matters - the brain needs and will take down time! See chart below:
-to maximize learning, create learning episodes
-many teachers check HW and do other housekeeping tasks for the first 10 minutes of class - this is prime learning time according to brain research!
ACTFL Teachers of the Year Ideas and Strategies
*For more information visit website created by three former ACTFL Teachers of the Year.
-keep TL in classroom with extemporaneous speaking activity: Put students in small groups; create speaking prompts (PowerPoint - show one at a time); assign numbers to each student in group (ex. 1-4); set time to 30-60 seconds; show prompt and call out student number; in each group one student will discuss prompt for allotted time; ring bell, call time and change topic (prompt ideas: If I were an animal I would be...; My favorite singer...; Here is an ad for some new shampoo; If my pet could speak, this is what he would say...; OR show pictures and selected student must describe image).
Go to Madame Fifi's website for conversation starters, etc.
-for easy student pairing use partner clocks - clock face divided into 12 pie slices for each hour - students fill clock partners with someone new for each time slot, they ask "Can I have an appointment for 2 o'clock (in TL of course!)
-create laminated, numbered tickets for easy group arrangements - have 4 of each number - hand out and have all 2 get together, etc.
-use laminated color cards for making groups
-various online tools that can be utilized include:
Wallwisher: click here for ideas on using Wallwisher in the classroom
Xtranormal: text-to-movie
Animoto: save as ppt or jpg format
Storybird: create class stories with fabulous illustrations
Techniques to get Students Speaking without Translating
presented by Joshua Cabral of Brookwood HS, MA
*for printouts of all his handouts and to use as props in the classroom see his blog and look for workshop materials
*a second blog can be found here
-teach students about circumlocution
-have students stand back-to-back in pairs - show an image that only one sees and describes to the other - they must talk around objects that they do not know the words for
-create "image sentences" using images found on blogs above / color code parts of speech
University of Texas at Austin Teaching Methods
*This website contains valuable instructional videos for WL teachers!
-Various aspects of language teaching are addressed including: speaking, writing, listening, reading, vocabulary, grammar, pragmatics, culture, the language learner, classroom management, technology and assessment//
Power point presentation for department meeting 12/15/10:
http://www.laits.utexas.edu/spe/ podcasts in spanish for listening and reading